The Racist Undertones Of The ‘Urban Contemporary’ Grammys Category
Creating a here’s-your-space-and-here’s-mine kind of atmosphere isn’t a good look no matter how you dress it.
Back in 2013, Kelly Rowland and Nas presented the first Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album, designed to honor “artists whose music includes the more contemporary elements of R&B and may incorporate production elements found in urban pop, urban Euro-pop, urban rock, and urban alternative” and “albums containing at least 51 percent playing time of newly recorded contemporary vocal tracks derivative of R&B.”
Of all the nominees — Chris Brown’s Fortune, Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, and Miguel’s Kaleidoscope Dream — California rapper and singer Ocean’s debut solo project nabbed the newly announced award.
There is something peculiar about the category’s nominees that year: Each candidate is black. Since then, this racial demographic has stayed largely the same, all the way up through last night, when The Weeknd took home the award by beating out a roster of entirely non-white nominees.
Some might say this is a good thing — a boon for much-needed inclusivity. But it’s also problematic that the word “urban” has such an undeniable racial implication. Moreover, the category…
